Objective:
To develop metabolomic methods for biological materials that can be used to identify and authenticate the whole material, identify, and quantify the small molecule content of the material, support nutritional and clinical research, and develop databases for plant and animal materials.

Approach:
ARS will develop metabolomic methods based on mass spectrometry (MS) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) using both direct analysis (no prior separation) and prior separation by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (U-HPLC). Spectral fingerprints acquired by direct analysis with MS and 1H-NMR and chromatographic fingerprints acquired by U-HPLC/MS and U-HPLC/1H-NMR will be used with multivariate analysis to identify and authenticate whole plant, botanical, and animal materials. Metabolomes of the materials will be identified and quantified. Specific chemical compounds (biomarkers) distinctive to each material will be identified. Analytical data acquired with both direct and chromatographic analysis will be used to construct databases to characterize the biological materials and serve as a base for future data mining.